Second, the department had to cover two supervisory shifts for most of the year because two officers were out on disability.

During the 12-month period, Danbury police dealt with anthrax contamination on Padanaram Road, a mass protest against the

Common Council
outside City Hall and an uptick in violence on Ives Street.

"We were out on that anthrax incident for three months," Baker said. "We guarded the scene for an entire month. That's all on overtime.

"If you recall, that was the same year we had four or five officers assaulted on Ives Street," he said. "For a good six months we beefed up that assignment."

The rally, organized in opposition to a proposal to have city detectives trained in immigration enforcement, cost about $25,000 in overtime, Baker said.

In addition, the chief related, "We had three supervisors out for most of the year, one out on a work-related injury, one out for surgery because of a personal injury, and one unfilled supervisory position in the patrol division."

Mayor
Mark Boughton
, who plays a key role in creating a spending plan each year with the city's finance department, said police overtime has been increasing because the required minimum number of police officers to cover each shift increased in 2007.

With more officers on the street, Boughton noted, the chance for an officer to call in sick increases, thereby creating more chances for overtime.

In addition, he pointed out that cops are often called in to work when they aren't scheduled to work.

"I want to make this clear," the mayor said. "They work for their money. They often come in at the insistence of the city."

OT increases with

addition of officers

There were roughly 150 sworn officers on the job in Danbury during the last two fiscal years -- a significant increase from 2005, when Danbury had a total of just 139 officers.

Still, the department paid more overtime last year than in 2005.

The Common Council approves a certain amount of police department overtime in the city budget each year, and the department usually comes in at or near the budgeted amount.

The amount of money allocated for overtime has increased roughly 50 percent since 2000. The money spent on police department salaries has also increased 50 percent since 2000.

"We closely monitor our overtime spending, and we manage it the best we can," Baker said. "A lot of it is out of our control due to contractural obligations.

"Many of these policy decisions were made years ago, under prior administrations," the chief explained, "and it is something we have to live with."

Contractural obligations

Contracts set manpower requirements for the department's various shifts. If an officer calls in sick -- or goes out on disability -- someone must covers for him or her, and that person collects overtime.

"The labor contract sets minimum guaranteed payments for officers called in to work on their day off," Baker said.

The contract allows for some police officers, such as members of the detective bureau, to collect overtime pay even for hours they don't work.

An off-duty detective who is called to a crime scene may be on the scene for only an hour or two but is paid for a full shift of overtime, Baker said.

"The detectives only work Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to midnight, (two shifts) basically," Baker said. "If some major crime occurs after midnight or on the weekend, we call in a detective to start the investigation. It is, at the minimum, eight hours of overtime."

During the 2007-08 fiscal year, about 12 percent of the hours spent on overtime was collected by the detective bureau.

Basically, Baker said, the department operates with manpower that ranks small for a city of Danbury's size. However, crime remains low, as Danbury was recently named -- once again -- the safest city in the state.

When a major crime or incident happens, the department incurs overtime, Baker said.

In 2007, seven of the top 10 highest overtime earners of all public employees were police officers.

In 2008, when the department averaged 520 hours of overtime per week, eight of the 10 highest overtime earners were police officers.

Efforts to decrease OT?

To significantly lower overtime costs would require the renegotiation of the police department contract and the hiring of additional officers, Baker said.

About 41 percent of the 26,531 overtime hours expended during the 2007-08 fiscal year went to supervisors or patrol officers covering shifts for other department members.

About 12 percent of overtime -- or roughly 3,000 hours -- was spent on officers who monitored the Ives Street entertainment district every weekend. The department puts extra officers on Ives Street between midnight and roughly 2 a.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"That's something that has been going on since 1993," Baker related. "It would be difficult for us to eliminate that right now because there are only seven officers on the midnight shift to begin with.

"We get a lot of activity in that area on the weekends," the chief said. "If we tie up three or four (regular) cars handling a call there, we'll be out of officers. Even if we pull officers off that Ives Street shift, I'd have to supplement the midnight shift with more officers until about 4 a.m."

There are also some areas of the police department that an infusion of technology would help.

An example -- an officer from the records department collects overtime every weekend filling out paperwork by hand. Another officer collects overtime to schedule "private duty" jobs for officers.

Those job, classified under "administrative," are responsible for roughly 6 percent of the total overtime hours expended by the department in 2007-08.

Lt.
Charles W. Kluge
, who works weekends, alternating with Sgt.
Al Russo
to complete weekly payroll requirements, earned roughly $27,000 in overtime on top of his annual salary of roughly $77,000.

"Our timekeeping, a lot of it is done over the weekend, on overtime," Baker said. "We still have a paper and pencil system to record hours. We use big spread sheets that are filled out every day.

"Computer systems have been installed at City Hall and other places," he said. "I'd like to see those systems installed here."

Boughton said the city will be hiring civilians to manage payroll and some scheduling, which will cut down the money spent on overtime.

Boughton and Baker said the amount of money the police department spends on overtime is in line with departments of similar size.

They are correct.

The New Britain Police Department, with roughly 150 officers, spent $1.39 million on overtime in the 2007-08 fiscal year, its largest payout since 2000.

New Britain polices a population of roughly 71,000 residents, while Danbury has roughly 78,000.

Although not as dramatic a drop as Danbury's, calls for service in New Britain also decreased from 2007 to 2008.

With a new police department building sprouting up on Danbury's Main Street, one might think the amount of overtime will go down. However, Baker is predicting it will increase.

He said the layout of the new building will require more officers to supervise the jail cells. In the existing building, everything -- dispatch, a radio room, the cells -- are close to each other.

Plans to hire about 26 civilians to take over dispatch duties -- which was supposed to get more officers on the street -- are on hold due to the weakening economy. The city doesn't have the revenue it needs to hire the workers.

Contact Eugene Driscoll

at edriscoll@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3332.

pullquote:

"We were out on that anthrax incident for three months. We guarded the scene for an entire month. That's all on overtime."

Al Baker

Danbury police chief

pullquote:

"I want to make this clear. [The police] work for their money. They often come in at the insistence of the city."